Use Form SF 180 To Order Military Records From National Archives (World War I And Later); PDF Form SF 180 In This Post

I thought I would make available via this blog post a PDF copy of the SF 180 Request Pertaining To Military Records Form that is needed to submit to the National Archives when seeking military records of ancestors from World I going forward. The form provides information on how to go about asking for military record information for pre-World War I ancestors.

I had been helping a researcher recently in this area and thought why not share this form easily through this blog. It is not difficult to find via the National Archives website, but I thought I could put it right here for readers of this blog that might need it.

Military records can provide vast amounts of information on an ancestor. I have a few indirect ancestors for whom I plan on submitting these forms some day from my “bucket list”.

There is a 1 page instruction form and a 1 page submission form and a 1 page Location of Military Records Information part and an address list of military records inquiries.

You will need to print the form out and fill in the printed forms the old-fashioned way and then submit them via mail. You cannot fill the form out online.

If you have never submitted such a request you may want to print and save the form itself for future use. There is a lot of good information contained in the form to help you properly fill it out whether you are a general genealogist seeking some ancestral information on a veteran who exited the military greater than 62 years ago or if you are a direct next of kin of a military veteran.

So if you thought about tracking down some military records of ancestors back to no further than World War I but did not have the proper form at your fingertips, then delay no longer. Here is the form you need to start your military records submission request to the National Archives.